I would like to start by congratulating everyone on making through another California and Arizona summer. I know we still have a couple months of triple digit temperatures, but the worst should be behind us at this point. As we move into September our morning temperatures will start to feel less painful, but remember your warm season grass is loving this weather–especially your California and Arizona sod. I have started to field questions regarding fall overseeding and I want to tell you to hit the brakes. Don’t just tap the brakes, slam on the brakes. You will see ryegrass hit the stores in the next week but walk away or buy it and sit on it until temperatures really drop. Today I want to discuss prep for the fall, and how to get your grass ready to overseed. This won’t be a tutorial on how to overseed, but instead some pointers of what to do before you overseed.

Players may be ready to hit the field, but before they do the field must be ready for the players first. Since different sport’s seasons run all year long, and many fields have a multi-sport purpose, keeping your athletic field in the best condition for players and fans alike may be easier said than done.

Is your athletic field ready for the sport’s seasons to come? To answer that question, you must first understand the main components that make up a well-built field. The three main components of a well-built athletic field are: safety, playability and aesthetics. To accomplish these three components, there is only one factor to keep in mind.

We are quickly approaching the best time to overseed your lawn, but I also know that many people don’t have a choice and need to get their lawn done sooner than later. This can present a few potential problems, but I will give you a few ways to help you get healthy turf if you need to drop seed this weekend. The best time to seed is when night time temperatures dip into the high 60’s, and we start to cool off a little bit during the day. It is always nice to be out of the 100’s before beginning the overseed process, but it’s okay to start prepping now in order to get ready for the season. A couple weeks ago I gave you the easy 1,2,3 fertilizer and seed steps, and today I want to talk a little more about what needs to be done with the prep work.

I was looking to put in a lawn this month, but I want it to be green this winter. What are my options?

It is fine to go ahead and put a non overseeded lawn in through October, but it is not a wise decision to overseed your lawn if it was put in at this time of the year because you have not given it enough time to establish itself.

The cool temperatures have settled in and so has the start of the yellow ryegrass season. Amazingly enough, here in the desert we do get pretty cold during the winter months and a few days of hard frost is enough to wreak havoc on your lush ryegrass or now completely dormant turf. Read the rest of this entry »

Comments Off on Temperature Inversion and Frost/College Football Wrap Up

The month of December is a time of slow growth for your winter ryegrass. We won’t start to see the resurgence of growth until early February when the temperatures start to warm back up. Since we typically receive the majority of our harder frosts during December-February it is a great time to get outside and adjust your clock for the winter season. If you are still running a summer watering schedule on your lawn, or if you haven’t adjusted your clock since you overseeded now is the time to make some changes. Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday was an eye opening day for several people in the turfgrass industry as West Coast Turf played host to Dr. Ronny Duncan for a workshop on how to grow paspalum at our Scottsdale farm. He also gave some tips on keeping color and winter hardiness for bermudagrass and St. Augustine. Many people are still opening up to the idea of growing a different grass than bermuda, but the paspalums is where the turf industry is quickly heading. Read the rest of this entry »

Comments Off on Paspalum Workshop/College Football Week 11/Ultra Run Results

At this time of the year there is not a warm season grass that is going to have time to root into the ground without having ryegrass to help it establish itself into the soil. We are just beginning to get into the season of having cool nights and mild days, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put down sod. Read the rest of this entry »

Comments Off on Selecting Turf During Overseed Season/College Football Week 10/Ultra Run #3

As we begin the month of November (and we are about 4-5 weeks into the overseed season) it’s time to make sure your lawn is ready for the winter. Winterizing your lawn with overseeded turf is quite different than getting it ready to go dormant for the winter. We have been blessed with some warm temperatures so far this fall keeping our non overseeded turf green, but as temperatures move into the 50’s at night you will start to see a sudden decline in non-overseeded turf growth.